ann arbor is overrated.

The Daily offers some behavior guidelines for “scenesters” at rock shows. Clip and save in case you ever have the opportunity to go to a show. We hear that they have them in some cities.

Well, perhaps someone reads this weblog.

Of course, it is possible to come to the conclusion that Ann Arbor is “a small town that masquerades as the ultra-hip center of the universe,” characterized by “overt smugness,” “decrepit apartments” and “a seemingly perpetual string of burglaries,” without ripping us off. In fact, we’re unclear on how anyone could come to a different conclusion. But if the meme continues to propagate, we may have to change our name.

The first ward results, according to A2 public-access:

Robert Johnson: 1545
Rob Haug: 371
Rick Lax: 618

Even if they added their votes together, it wouldn’t help. Damn, damn, damn.

We were one of two people at our polling place this afternoon (we voted for Rick Lax). Where’s this Proposal B record turnout?

Oh, yes, and if you haven’t - VOTE!

Also, the Daily says that Rob Haug opposes Proposal B. He does?

Finally, some confirmation that crime in A2 is unusually high. Despite the fact that the U of M has about 5,000 fewer students than Michigan State, campus police here received more robbery and burglary reports in 2002 than campus police at MSU - 13 and 150, respectively, compared to MSU’s 7 and 136. This even though MSU’s campus is about 1.5 times as big as the U of M’s, has more students living in dorms (where burglaries reported to campus police are likely to happen) and isn’t situated in lovely posh Annarbour.

The Daily gets it exactly wrong on both ballot proposals.

They concede that two of Proposal A’s provisions - dropping the requirement that city officials have lived in their wards for a year and allowing candidates to have registered to vote outside of A2 - would “greatly benefit students running for an office such as city council.” The ward requirement, they point out, is especially invidious because students tend to move from ward to ward. And it’s exacerbated by the fact that the Central Campus area is conveniently split across wards. But they still urge a vote against it, because of the third, which allows officials to live outside the city. The Daily doesn’t argue that outsiders are less qualified to run city government, although that’s a reasonable concern. Instead, they’re just worried that “the proposal encourages officials to commute from the suburbs, escalating urban sprawl and a host of problems that come with it.” We’re sure there’s a sizable demographic that would love to move to a happening place like Pittsfield or Saline but holds back for fear of sabotaging an Ann Arbor political career. Nevertheless, we endorse Proposal A.

On Proposal B, they parrot the “vote yes and then maybe do something about affordable housing” line that we find just incomprehensible - we’ve heard it so often from proponents that we have to conclude that this isn’t a well-thought-out piece of legislation.

The Ann Arbor News takes a hard-hitting look at the new health premiums for faculty and staff. They talked to a nurse practitioner who felt that the new system is “a necessary evil,” a professor who describes the plan as carried out in “as fair a way as they can” and another professor who worries that it may unfairly increase the “burden on young families.” Other sources quoted in the story include a media engineer at the School of Dentistry, a School of Public Health coordinator and the executive editor of Michigan’s alumni magazine.

No graduate students were quoted or acknowledged to exist in the story.

Also, two more robberies of student-age residents of Ann Arbor, one on South U. at 6:15 in the afternoon. What is it about 6:15 p.m. and violent crime in this city?